Rumour mills are working overtime, thanks to continuous updates on the Anushka Sharma-Virat Kohli 'split' in social media. There’s no unqualified confirmation from the celeb couple about it yet. Various reasons are being cited for their 'break-up' - the growing distance between the two, Anushka turning down marriage proposal and Virat “complaining” to friends about Anushka’s “controlling” nature. Whatever the reason be, the fact of the matter is that another fairy tale Bollywood-cricket romance seems to have ended. The duo survived several bumps in their journey together over the past couple of years - we all remember how Anushka was vilified when Virat’s performance was showing cracks at several international tournaments. Yet they pooh poohed all such theories by just being there for each other.
This is of course not the first time a Bollywood-cricket romance has gone awry. It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Sharmila Tagore and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi were perhaps the first couple who brought Bollywood and the world of cricket together. Their relationship lasted 47 years till Tiger’s death in 2011. But not all couples marrying the film industry with cricket lived happily ever after. Take Mohammed Azharuddin and Sangeeta Bijlani. They were madly in love with each other and their marriage lasted for more than a decade. Then there were rumours about the former Indian cricket captain having a torrid affair with badminton player Jwala Gutta. And the Sangeeta-Azhar marriage was blown to smithereens.
Then there was yesteryear actress Reena Roy who quit the industry at the peak of her career to get married to Pakistani cricketer Mohsin Khan. They left each other in no time. It’s an open secret how Zeenat Aman and Imran Khan dated and parted ways. Viv Richards and Neena Gupta’s love story is sort of a legend in the two worlds of entertainment. Amrita Singh’s alleged liaison with cricketer Ravi Shastri fired Bollywood and cricket fans’ imagination as well.
Fast forward, Nagma revealed in a tell-all interview a few years ago how her relationship with former Indian captain Sourav Ganguly cracked because the latter’s career was apparently getting “affected”. More recently, Bollywood actress Kim Sharma and cricketer Yuvraj Singh were an “item”, but the affair didn't culminate in a marriage. Fast bowler Zaheed Khan and actress and dancer Isha Sharvani too split after a long courtship period.
So, what's the formula for an everlasting Bollywood-cricket romance? Only time will tell!